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Risk. Above. All.

Three simple words flashed on the screen before a clip from Birdman featuring the recipient of
the SBIFF Modern Master Award: Risk. Above. All. These words accurately describe
Michael Keaton’s acting career.

It is hard to determine which one of Michael Keaton’s movies
is my favorite. The characters he has portrayed span across comedy, action, suspense,
and drama genres so effortlessly. His eclectic career has seen the rise of
Beetlejuice, Batman, and now Birdman. My favorite film of his
may be Beetlejuice, however my favorite character is definitely Ray Nicolette
in Jackie Brown. That said, Keaton is my favorite Batman of the entire Batman
movie franchise. All this is debatable.

Saturday night, the Santa Barbara International Film
Festival honored Keaton for his brave portrayal of Riggan Thomson, a
has-been actor who once played an iconic superhero now desperate to regain his
former glory in Birdman. His
performance already received over 30 awards internationally and has been nominated
for an Oscar for Best Actor – which would be the first for this seasoned actor.

“Call it a renaissance,” proclaimed the night’s moderator,
Leonard Maltin, as the tribute began. “Birdman
is a reaffirmation of Michael Keaton’s enormous talent.” Maltin made no bones
about being a huge fan of Keaton’s, stating that he was hooked when Keaton first
burst on screen in an extraordinary comedic performance in 1982’s Night Shift.

crappy iPhone photo

Addie MacDonald, Keaton’s co-star in 1992’s Multiplicity, introduced his video
montage of film work, stating that Keaton was both an inspiration and friend.
“At 63, he is brave enough to run through Times Square in his underwear… He has
balls!”

Keaton’s film career flashed before our eyes. Night Shift, Mr. Mom, Beetlejuice, One Good
Cop, Batman, Pacific Heights, Much Ado About Nothing, Jackie Brown… and on
and on. Until finally, Keaton jumped up from his seat, paused to play air
guitar in the aisle, and made his way to the stage facing a standing ovation.

“This is oddly intimidating.” Keaton stated immediately to
Leonard Maltin. “This is overwhelming… You think you get it, then you see it
all. It’s a lot to take in. I am truly blessed.”

Keaton’s birth name is Michael John Douglas. “It’s, actually
Michael John Daniel Douglas,” he
clarified, “I had communion.” The youngest of seven kids born into an Irish
family, Keaton enjoyed being silly and getting lost in books. He would run
around the neighborhood naked, his brothers would scare him with stories about
a boy named Johnny living in the attic, and his father would have shady
characters over with thick Irish accents. There was too much to do and see. So
essentially, Keaton got into acting as an outlet for his over-active
imagination. “It had to come out somehow, and it came out as acting.”

Keaton first released his imagination on the comedy circuit
doing improv at open mic nights in New York, which he called “performance based
mini plays,” while working crappy day jobs. He used improv groups to feed his
need to perform, eventually trying his hand at television. “I am not good on
TV,” Keaton admits, “I don’t know why… I don’t know…”

Moving out to LA, Keaton, still Douglas at this time, was

crappy iPhone photo

informed
by the actor’s union that there was already a Mike and Michael Douglas, so he
had to use another last name. “Ironically, Michael Douglas’ last name isn’t
Douglas, it’s some Russian name I can’t recall,” Keaton complained jokingly.
His family had called him Jackson as a nickname, so he thought about using
Michael Jackson, but that too was a bust for obvious reasons. So he randomly
picked Keaton. It had nothing to do with Buster or Diane. “But it’s nice. I
don’t use Keaton for anything except my work,” explains Keaton. “It really
keeps my personal life separate.”

As Maltin began the parade of movie clips, we really got to
see Michael Keaton – the creative force, as he spoke about why and how each
character evolved. “It’s an odd job. You
can’t put your finger on what you did that day,” proclaimed Keaton. “Unlike
working outdoors, there’s no dirt to wash off.”

His characters were born from the union of visions of the
writers, directors, and actor… and sometimes other crewmembers. Bill
Blazejowski in Night Shift was born
when Ron Howard saw Keaton dance into the audition room. Beetlejuice was
harder. “Tim was not describing anything I could understand,” admits Keaton. So
he met with make-up artist Ve Neil and they just went for it, the energy
building upon that collaboration. Batman’s voice came from Keaton’s need to
rationalize the scenario. He believed there was no way anyone would not know
Batman was Bruce Wayne once Batman talked – it wasn’t rational. Without “the
voice,” he was just Bruce Wayne in a tight bat suit. Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing was based on a
particular shady friend of Keaton’s father. And Birdman’s voice was the result
of telling director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu the story about the Batman
voice. These antidotes all lovingly told between clips from some of Keaton’s best
work.

As we came to the end of the evening, Roger Durling emerged
on stage, “sobbing watching the greatness of Michael Keaton.” This is the 30th
anniversary of the Film Festival and the 25th anniversary the Modern
Master Award. Ironically, Michael Douglas received the 1st. Durling
exclaiming, “This was all meant for me to honor you tonight.”

And to honor Leonard Maltin: The Modern Master Award will
herby be called the Maltin Modern Master Award.
Danny DeVito awarded the first “Maltin Modern Master Award” to his
Batman costar and friend, stumbling a bit over it’s weight.

Taking risks wasn’t the original game plan. Keaton
originally just wanted to do good work.
With Birdman, Keaton knew it
would be different. “Deep inside, I knew I knew it… It was more different than
I thought it would be – you’re exposed, literally. I have a weird job.
Alejandro said you are going to go deeper than you ever have – and I did. You
are here for a millisecond, you have to make the most of it. You must have
courage.”